


Inferno

by ambiguous_nights



Series: Whumptober 2020 [23]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Day 27, Extreme Weather, Gen, Whumptober 2020, Wildfires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27241429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguous_nights/pseuds/ambiguous_nights
Summary: Separatists aren't the only danger on this planet.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Series: Whumptober 2020 [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950745
Comments: 2
Kudos: 50





	Inferno

**Author's Note:**

> warnings- fire, mentions of burns

He wakes to the smell of smoke, an orange sky, and a crackling that sounds vaguely like a bonfire but is much too loud.

“We have to go!” Cody yells in his ear as he drags Obi-wan to his feet before he’s even fully awake.

Obi-wan scrambles to get his feet beneath him as his brain catches up. They’d only just finished a three day long battle. Obi-wan had been looking forward to twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep to replenish his depleted reserves. It has not been nearly that long.

“Separatists?” Obi-wan asks. Surely, they couldn’t have initiated another attack. This entire sector is firmly within Republic control now.

Cody shakes his head and chucks a helmet into Obi-wan’s hands. The wind picks up and with it comes enough smoke to send Obi-wan into a brief coughing fit before he manages to get the helmet on.

“We’ve got wildfires moving in from the south and west,” Cody says over the comm.

Obi-wan glances in those directions but sees nothing but smoke. The helmet provides a hazy heat vision, but it isn’t of any use. Everything is too distorted by the smoke and the heat air around the fires. “How far out?”

“Less than a mile and moving fast.”

The two of them jog through camp as Cody yells at the men to get up and get moving. Dozens of exhausted men scramble back into armor still stained from the last battle.

“We can’t outrun it,” Obi-wan says.

“Then what do you propose? Our armor can’t take that kind of heat for long and there’s no shelter nearby.”

Obi-wan glances around the grassy field around them. “We have to hunker down. Gather the men. I’ll deal with the grass,” Obi-wan says, ignoring the twinge of doubt inside him. He’s exhausted and worn down, but he must do this. There is no other option.

“Sir?” Cody says.

“I can protect us. Just make sure everyone has their armor on.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Cody says and jogs off.

Obi-wan wipes the ash from his helmet’s faceplate and reaches out into the Force.

The sky is darkening quickly with the smoke. The roar of the fire is getting ever louder. Animals scream in terror as they find they aren’t fast enough to outrun the conflagration. Embers twist through the air like a swarm of deadly fireflies.

Obi-wan closes his eyes and yanks with all his strength.

Hundreds of thousands of blades of grass are torn free from the ground and tossed aside in a wave of green that nearly overwhelms the men caught within it. The wind catches them and pushes them ahead of the fire, away from Obi-wan and the 212th.

His knees buckle, his body overexerted, but strong hands catch him before he can collapse. It’s Cody, he realizes, as the man drags into the center of the denuded land.

His robes are pulled off and armor is quickly attached to his undersuit, protecting him from the falling embers. Armored bodies circle closer, away from the edges of the circle and the flames and heat. “You okay, sir?” Cody asks as Obi-wan gradually regains control of his body.

“I need stims,” Obi-wan says and reaches for Cody’s belt.

“Sir, Helix said any more of those and you could put yourself in a coma.”

“Either I risk it, or we all die of heat.”

Cody winces, then pulls the pack of stims from his belt. Obi-wan pops two of them into his mouth and swallows.

His heart begins to pound. The fire grows louder. Ash and embers fall on them, burying them in superheated debris that scorches their armor. Sweat begins to pour down his skin as the armor struggles to maintain a safe temperature.

The Force erupts from within him, shoving away the ashes and the heat and the smoke. His entire body hums as the Force is channeled through it and builds a shield around them. The flames are kept at bay by the denuded land, but the heat presses inwards, closer, closer, ever closer.

Blood dribbles out of his nose. The roar of the fire grows louder still. Thousands of embers and sparks rain down from the sky, igniting more fires, more destruction.

He collapses.

\----

A voice filters through the clouds of Obi-wan’s consciousness before drawing him back to wakefulness. Obi-wan opens his eyes slightly to find Anakin sitting a few feet away, but Anakin isn’t supposed to be near the 212th or this sector. He frowns and tries to sit up, but Anakin pushes him back down.

“Che says you’ve got one of the worst cases of Force exhaustion she’s ever seen,” Anakin says. “Cody had to bring you back to the Temple for treatment.”

Obi-wan hums a questioning note when he finds his voice won’t respond to his commands.

“After you collapsed, apparently there was enough of an opening in the fire for them to get through safely, though there are lots of burn injuries from what I’ve heard. But nothing fatal. They have you to thank for that. Ikt’ansa’s wildfires can be deadly under normal circumstances.”

Obi-wan smiles slightly, then taps on the bed in a poor imitation of the sign for time, but unable to get his exhausted arms to move properly.

Anakin raises an eyebrow. “Obi-wan, you nearly burned yourself out. You’re going to be here for at least a week before your body will even recover. And who knows how long Che will keep you here after that.”

Obi-wan scowls.

“Don’t give me that look. I know you did what you had to, I would have done the same, but stuff like that takes a toll. And besides, if Che keeps you here, I won’t have to worry about coming to your rescue, old man.”

Obi-wan rolls his eyes but allows himself to settle down. Perhaps it would be nice to just rest.

But only for a few days. Then he’ll start planning his escape.


End file.
